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by Angylsmuse, Orithain



Series: Fourth Pass [42]
Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:15:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9490634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylsmuse/pseuds/Angylsmuse, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain
Summary: Lord Holder Cian goes for a ride while Dylan is away at the conclave.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to "Improving Relations" and "It's All in How You Ask".  
> Originally posted June 2001.

Cian threw down the hides he was reading in exasperation.It was his third pass, and still nothing was sinking in.He absolutely _hated_ it when Dylan went away without him, but it couldn’t be helped.Someone had to represent Solonis at the Holders conclave, and since there were two of them and he was the lord holder by marriage, he got to stay.But it had been four sharding days, and he wanted his husband.Bad.

Rubbing the bridge of his rather prominent nose, Cian tried to let the tension drain out of his shoulders using the relaxation techniques a fellow healer had taught him once.It didn’t work.Getting up, he paced the office he shared with Dylan.That didn’t help either.Nothing short of his husband home and them having a hot and sweaty session in the privacy of their own rooms would cure this particular itch.

“Shardit!”Stalking out to the outer office, Cian kept walking past the hold scribe.“I’m going riding; tell the steward I’ll be back in a couple candlemarks.”

Not waiting for an answer, Cian walked out of the office and down the corridor to the suite of rooms reserved for him and Dylan.Stalking into the bedroom, he opened the clothes press and pulled out his riding leathers and jacket.Changing quickly, the holder snagged his riding gloves, called to Myste, his green flit, and headed out to the stables to saddle Kornos.

~*~*~

Five candlemarks later, when Lord Cian still hadn’t returned but his runner had, the steward sent out a search party.

Dylan returned home to a scene of chaos and the news that his husband was missing.The lord holder froze, every drop of blood draining from his head, leaving him white as a sheet.His eyes fixed on the steward, a desperate plea in their depths.

“How long?”

“Only a few candlemarks, Lord Dylan,” the steward replied bracingly.

If possible, Dylan went whiter.Even his lips were bloodless now.“Candlemarks?” he repeated almost silently.

“Saddle my runner,” he demanded brusquely, already stripping off his conclave finery as he strode toward his rooms to change.“I’ll find him myself.”

No one bothered to argue with their lord holder.They knew when it was a waste of time, and knowing how much their young lords loved each other, no one had expected any differently.

Shortly afterward, Dylan cantered away from the hold in the direction that a young stablehand said he’d seen Cian going earlier that day, desperately hoping that the search party had found the other man.

~*~*~

Cian cursed his stupidity for the dozenth time as he leaned against a tree and hugged his leather riding jacket closer to his lean frame.Shells, even with a sweater on it was bloody cold.The fact that he had a head injury didn’t help much either.

The lord holder wasn’t sure how long he’d been unconscious on the damp ground, but when he’d tried to stand up and had his leg buckle underneath him in excruciating pain, he figured that the ground was the best place for him.Luckily, after a cursory examination he’d assessed that all he’d done was sprain his ankle and was suffering from a slight concussion.Sometimes being a healer helped.

Now all he had to figure out was how to stay awake.Something to occupy his mind until a rescue party... shells, what a thick head he was!“Myste, sweetie, will you come here, please?” The frantic green flit immediately landed on his lap and began cuddling into him, seeking to assure herself that her owner was well while emitting worried little creels.

_Myste, I need you to get help, precious,_ Cian told his flit softly. _Bring them back here, please,_ he ordered, sending the flit aloft and watching her dart _between_.Now back to his original problem.How to stay awake.Something to occupy his mind.

The first time he’d spotted Dylan, now there was a thought to keep him awake.And what an interesting courtship they’d had... Cian smiled to himself and got lost in the memories.

~*~*~

Dylan grew increasingly frantic as he encountered several members of the search party and no one had seen any sign of Cian. _Where are you, love?_ He moved on, determined not to return without his mate.

Selkie, who’d been flying a bit ahead, suddenly vanished, then reappeared moments later with Myste.Dylan’s eyes widened, and he finally felt that he was getting closer to the missing man.“Come here, sweet,” he crooned, holding an arm up for her to land on.

“Good girl, Myste, you’ve come for help.Take me to Cian, love.Show me the way.Go to Cian, Selkie, let him know I’m coming,” he urged, hoping Selkie could find out where Cian was from Myste and go so the other man would know help was on the way.When Selkie vanished again, Dylan relaxed.

“Where to, Myste?” he asked, calmer now that he had a direction to follow.The little green launched herself back into the air, and Dylan urged his runner to a canter to follow her.

~*~*~

Cian was shaken out of his memories by a worried croon just above him.Looking up, he was surprised to see Selkie hovering over him.“Sel.If you’re here, does this mean Dyl is too?” he asked softly, calling his husband by the much hated nickname.Chuckling to himself, Cian motioned for Selkie to land on his lap and keep him company.

“Tell him I’m okay, handsome, just a little banged up,” the holder asked the blue flit softly.“Just don’t let him know I called him Dyl.Shards, he hates that.”

Gently rubbing Selkie’s tiny eyeridges, Cian suddenly felt much warmer.Dylan was home and was coming to get him.His head and his ankle didn’t hurt quite so much now.“Jays, I’ve missed your master, handsome, so much that it hurts.You’d have thought that after three Turns of marriage plus another couple of courting we’d be an old married couple by now, instead of still mooning over each other like newlyweds.Let you in on a little secret.I’ll still be mooning over your master in my dotage.The man’s a hunk!”

“Glad to hear it,” a dry voice replied from behind him, the unconcern in Dylan’s tone belied by the frantic expression in his eyes.“Shards, Cian,” he said, dropping the act, “you scared me half to death!”

He swung down from his runner and dropped to his knees beside the other man, gathering him into his arms and burying his face against his throat.“Don’t do that to me again.”

He stood back, carefully drawing Cian with him, supporting him to keep his weight off the injured ankle.He helped his husband mount, then swung up behind him.

“You should sit sideways and keep your leg up, love.Your ankle will be in agony by the time we reach the hold if you leave it hanging down like that.”As he spoke, Dylan pulled out a scrap of hide, wrote a quick note letting the holdfolk know that he’d found Cian, and sent Selkie back with it.

Cian snorted softly.“It’s not like I planned this, you know?I went out for a ride to work off some frustrations not get injured.Having that animal run out in front of Kornos and send him bolting is _not_ my idea of a good time,” the younger man replied sarcastically.

He did, however, swing sideways and loop his leg over Dylan’s.It allowed him to snuggle in closer and wrap his arms around the older man’s waist, let him bury his face in Dylan’s neck and breathe in his scent as well as absorb his body heat.“Shells, I’ve missed you.”

“Me too,” Dylan said simply, holding him tightly.“I missed you, and then when I came home and you were missing...”He shuddered, his grip tightening around Cian till his ribs creaked.“Not going without you again.You always get into trouble when I let you out of my sight.”

He glanced up when Selkie reappeared, then settled on his shoulder, rubbing his head against Cian’s.“We’re going to lock ourselves in our suite for at least the next day.No interruptions.Just you and me.”

“Barring some major emergency.I _am_ still the holdhealer until our new journeyman is a little more seasoned, after all,” Cian reminded the older man with a chuckle after he could breathe again.

“Not that I can go anywhere for at least a sevenday,” the younger man continued with a sigh.“I guess it’s time for me to follow the saying ‘healer, heal thyself.’ Bed rest for a sevenday until the ankle mends and the bump goes down.Shells, I hate being in bed - unless you’re with me.And you’ve got a hold to run,” Cian continued to grump.

“Well, we do have a steward, and we haven’t taken any time off just for us since the couple sevendays after we married,” Dylan said slowly.“I’d have to work for a couple of days to get everything in order, but I don’t see why we couldn’t take two sevendays off and get away somewhere once we’ve made arrangements.In fact, I think it would do us a lot of good,” he continued, growing more enthusiastic as he thought about it.

“If there were any real emergencies, they’d be able to contact us and one of the watchriders could come pick us up.What do you think?Want to do it?”

“Somewhere warm?” Cian begged shamelessly as he snuggled closer to his husband.“Somewhere where I can walk around, well, hobble around, in nothing but shorts, and I can ogle your gorgeous body?I’d really like that!” the younger man continued.

Dylan laughed easily.“Much as I enjoy the thought of ogling and being ogled, you and I both know that your request has more to do with your dislike of the cold than any overwhelming desire to see me.You can do that every day.”

He hugged Cian close.“But I think we should do it.It’s been too long since we took time just for us.We’ll go to a nice private area where we can sunbathe nude... and I’ll protect you from sunburn.”

Cian chuckled throatily and nosed the flesh of his husband’s throat.Nibbling on the heated skin, Cian purred in the older man’s ear.“Can you make this beast move any faster?I want to be home and in our bed.I want to be lying on my back with your cock up my ass, screaming like mad as you fuck me brainless.”

Dylan groaned loudly and urged the runner into a gallop, then slowed him again when Cian gasped as his ankle was jarred.“Okay, that’s it.No man could be expected to ignore this kind of temptation.”He reached around and unbuttoned his husband’s pants, then undid his own, freeing the erection that had begun to grow the moment Cian settled against him.He fumbled in the saddlebags for the container of oil that was always there and moments later was buried in the tight heat of his mate’s ass.

“Now for the screaming,” he rasped in Cian’s ear, his hand already busy stroking the other man’s cock.

“Shards!” Cian cried out as he was penetrated.With Dylan buried to the hilt, all the healer could do was hang on and whimper as his husband moved counter to the runner’s gait so that he was being slammed over and over again onto Dylan’s cock.Everything was forgotten but the sensations that inundated him.The cold, the pain of his ankle, everything was forgotten but the hot length of Dylan inside him, moving and driving him crazy.

Cian’s fingers bit painfully into his husband’s arms as he held on to the older man.His head was thrown back onto Dylan’s shoulder, and tiny mewling gasps of pleasure escaped with every thrust.“Dyl-lan, oh shells!” Cian wailed as he was impaled over and over again.“Need to... gonna... COME!” Creamy white streaks of semen danced over his shirt, Dylan’s hand and the runner’s neck as the healer cried his pleasure to the heavens.

Dylan held out for another few strokes, listening to and feeling his lover’s climax before he came as well.He yelled Cian’s name as the sensations overwhelmed him, and he filled his husband with his seed.

“Jays, Ci,” he groaned, hugging him tightly, still inside him.“I thought I’d lost you.”

“Never,” Cian replied fiercely, his hands digging into his husband’s biceps once more.“I’ll never leave you.We go together, Dylan.I know that in my heart,” the healer continued, reveling in the complete possession of his husband.

Resting his head on Dylan’s shoulder, he stayed where he was for several more miles until they reached the end of the uncultivated lands.“Guess I’d best right myself before the cotholders get a look at all my bits and pieces,” he sighed unhappily.“Continue this at home?”

“Absolutely,” Dylan replied instantly.“I have a yen to hear my husband beg and scream his pleasure.I think I’ll indulge myself tonight, then tomorrow we can make arrangements for that trip we talked about.I’m looking forward to having you all to myself.”He pulled Cian’s head around for a kiss, petting him one last time before reluctantly taking his hand away.

“Better get your clothes in order, love,” he sighed, “or some of the holders may try to steal you away from me.”

“Like I’d let them.May have taken me a while to let you convince me I belonged to you but when you did...”the younger man trailed off as he fought to right himself then snuggled back into his husband’s arms with an exhausted sigh.

“I could sleep for a sevenday now - after I let the journeyman look at my ankle,” he grimaced in distaste.“Guess healers really do make the worst patients - blech!He’s gonna slather my ankle with numbweed and then brace it and tell me I can’t move from our bed unless you’re there to carry me to the necessary and so on and so forth.Shells, I hate being an invalid!” the holdhealer pouted.

Dylan chuckled.“I dunno.I kind of like the idea of you not being able to get out of bed.And I happen to like carrying you.You know, I wouldn’t mind that being a permanent state of affairs,” the lord holder teased.

Cian snorted softly.“You mind if I pass?I really don’t want a herniated mate so early in our marriage.I am, after all, bigger than you, remember?”

“That’s a matter of opinion... unless we’re talking about your nose?”

“Whatever you say, _shrimp_ ,” Cian rebutted with a jab to the ribs.“And you didn’t complain about the length of my nose the other night when it was doing those things to you that had you begging for mercy,” the younger man reminded his mate with a wicked grin.“Unless, of course, those pleas for mercy were contrived.”

Dylan laughed.“How ‘bout we try again tonight and find out for sure?” He nipped at Cian’s ear in retaliation for the elbow in the ribs.“After all, you should probably spend tomorrow in bed, and I think I’ll keep you company.So we can play all night.”

Cian rolled his eyes.“I’m going to be told to keep my ankle immobile, Dylan, unless you plan on sitting on my face, that is?” he replied with a twinkle in his eyes as he leaned back a bit to grind his ass against his husbands cock.

“Well, that could be interesting,” Dylan chuckled.“Or you could just hold still while I take you.It could be an exercise in self-control.”

Cian whimpered and wriggled more firmly back against his husband. “Are we there yet, Dylan?”

“In fact, we are, so sit still unless you want our holders to see me take you over the back of this runner!” Dylan guided the animal to the entrance closest to the healer’s office.He stepped down, reassuring their people that Cian was well, and held his arms up for his husband.

Cian smiled wanly at the people gathered around and apologized profusely for causing such trouble, promising to never do it again and always take someone with him when he went riding.Sliding down into his husband’s waiting arms, the younger man buried his face in his mate’s shoulder.“Shells, I’m mortified!”

“No reason to be, love.It was an accident.It could have happened to anyone.I just wouldn’t have been so terrified if it had been someone else.”He held his mate close as he carried him to the healer.

“It was an accident that shouldn’t have happened,” Cian replied stubbornly.“I’m not only a lord holder but the holdhealer until we get our new journeyman trained.I shouldn’t be taking foolish risks.It was bloody stupid of me.And don’t try to argue with me - I’ll win this one; it’s my turn!”

Dylan burst into laughter, fortunately near a chair so he could put Cian down before he dropped him.“Yes, dear,” he gasped out between chuckles.He turned to the journeyman who was already kneeling at Cian’s side, checking his ankle.“So, how is he?”

~*~*~

A candlemark later Cian was lying on their bed, his foot elevated, bound, and slathered in numbweed just as he’d predicted, wearing nothing but his small clothes and a frown.“Told you,” he pouted miserably at his smirking husband.“A sevenday in bed.A _sevenday_!I’ll go mad with boredom, I know it!”

Dylan laughed.“You already are mad, my love.And I’m sure I’ll be able to find ways to amuse you.For right now though, all I want is to fall asleep with my husband in my arms for the first time in four days.Think you can handle that?”

Cian stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at the older man, then moaned appreciatively as Dylan stripped, revealing the body Cian had been missing for much to long.“Can’t think of anything that sounds better, right now.Come to bed, Dylan,” the younger man husked.“I’ve missed you.”

“Me too, love.Next conclave, we go together.I can’t concentrate when I’m missing you.”Dylan slid into the bed beside his husband, careful not to jar his ankle.He settled against him, and let out a long sigh of satisfaction.“_Much_ better.”

“Shut up and kiss me, idiot,” Cian grinned at his husband, pulling him in for a kiss.“Glad you were stubborn enough to catch me all those Turns ago.Can’t imagine life without you now,” the younger man sighed.“My life, my heart, my everything.I love you, Dylan.”

“Love you too,” Dylan replied, returning the kiss, then pulling away.Much as he wanted the other man, especially after a few days apart, he didn’t want to hurt him.They could celebrate their reunion the next day.

Snuggling into the warm haven of his husband’s arms as best he could without jarring his ankle, Cian tucked his head into Dylan’s shoulder and placed a tender kiss on the exposed skin.“Glad you’re home, Dylan.Never do that to me again, okay?” he mumbled sleepily as the fellis finally began to take effect and send him off to sleep.

Dylan watched his love sleep for a little while.“Never,” he promised softly with a light kiss to the dark hair, then his own eyes closed, and he fell asleep.


End file.
